All Rivers Cuomo, All Alone

Onetime geek gods Weezer have been nothing but disappointing this century, PopMatters’ Evan Sawdey says, so thank heaven for Alone, lead singer Rivers Cuomo’s solo “album of one-offs, hard-to-finds, and unreleased material.” Much of the record dates from the band’s Pinkerton golden age, and the eight (of 18) songs that are listenable are some of his “strongest material” ever.

The rare tunes include four from an unreleased rock opera; Cuomo’s satisfied to be imperfect, and his “disarmed honesty” is a welcome surprise. Less impressed is Rolling Stone’s Christian Hoard, who expected the “weirder side” of Weezer’s frontman to emerge. Instead the music feels “same-y and undercooked, and without a band to push him along, Cuomo’s sad-dude act gets old fast.” (More Weezer stories.)